Our furry friends have stolen our hearts and now our homes. Senior Writer for Houzz Australia, Georgia Madden, discusses with the experts how our pets are now a major component in the design of our homes, below.

You heard it here first – pets are taking centre stage when it comes to the design of our homes. From designer doggy doors and customised dog baths to heated sleeping areas, growing numbers of homeowners are asking for special pet-friendly features within their home designs, say these three architects.

“Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in requests to accommodate all manner of pets within our clients’ homes, especially with the rise of pet ownership during the lockdown years,” says Rebecca Naughtin, director at Rebecca Naughtin Architect.

“The requests range from designing spaces and pathways for pets through the home down to refining joinery for the placement of water bowls, sleeping quarters and custom lead hooks.

“The global events of the past two years and the shift to working from home has led to change in people’s priorities and lifestyles,” she says. “Not only do more people have pets, but we’re all spending more time with them. When building their forever home, our clients want customised spaces that make life easier and less cluttered as we reassess what is important in life”.

“Pets offer that element of adventure, and many would agree that pets are part of the family. Whether it’s bespoke dog beds or even something as simple as a fluid indoor-outdoor transition, it’s the narrative that feeds the brief that results in excellent outcomes,” says Naughtin.

“As the proud parent of two red kelpies and a Burmese cat, I have no doubt we will see more pet-centric features in home design going forward,” says Kirsten Johnstone, director at Kirsten Johnstone Architecture. “As many of us head back to the office, we want to provide secure and interactive spaces for our pets to ensure the safety of our beloved furry family member,” she says.

“Specific home-design features to ensure your fur baby is provided for while also simplifying the practical needs of pet ownership might include access doors into the home for your pet to come and go at will, including escaping outside weather conditions as needed. We are regularly asked to include outdoor dog-bath areas to simplify this practical need,” says Johnstone.

“We are currently designing a home in Queensland with a combined outdoor shower and dog-washdown area with an associated drying area to hang wet towels and leads for when the family and their pets come back from the beach,” says Johnstone. “We have previously designed pet-specific drawers within the laundry to house pet food containers for feeding time, which can simply be closed to tidy up afterwards.
“Other design ideas we have considered include creating cat niches in otherwise redundant corners of cabinetry, and enclosed internal courtyard areas that double as an outdoor cat run – these usually need a netting over the top to prevent the amazing cat escape.

“Personally, we have installed an internal snib lock on our laundry’s internal cavity sliding door as our cat can readily open this door and we treasure our sleep to allow him to roam around the house at night,” says Johnstone. “Living in a 1970s home, we have many sliding doors and we have also fitted magnetic latches to keep them closed due to his incessant coming and going. And don’t start me on the lever handles that he can open! Too clever.”

“This project with the dog bed under the stair was one of our first detailed pet briefs,” says Naughtin. “The family labrador was measured for size and dexterity and a plan was formed around dog walker access, dog doors, food delivery and storage, and sleeping arrangements. Building a narrative around the dog day-by-day strengthened the brief.

“I seem to be stepping it up a tiny paw-sized notch with each project, from window openings in external doors for outside doggie access to holes in cupboards to conceal cat loos,” says Lisa Breeze, principal at Lisa Breeze Architect. “My most recent pet installation is an architectural dog house built into the wall of the home. “They’re appearing in homes of all sizes. The smaller the home, the trickier it is to integrate these types of details, but they can always be accommodated,” she says.

“We’ve had a lot of exciting requests from clients, including a request for series of ledges throughout the house for their cat to roam,” says Naughtin. “Areas to lock dogs when there are guests is a popular request as homeowners don’t want to necessarily exclude their dogs from the fun, but do want to prevent visitors from being smothered.” “We’re also having a bit of fun at the moment trying to incorporate a street artist’s work into a facade of a rear Melbourne laneway project that plays on themes of their pet – stay tuned for that one!” says Naughtin.

“If you want to incorporate special pet features into your home, the earlier you bring it up with your architect the better – ideally at the same time as you’re discussing the number of bedrooms and types of social spaces you’re after,” says Breeze.

If you’re not ready to go as far as change the structure of your home to accommodate your furry friends, you might consider something more portable. “There are high-tech appliances available that pet owners can use to keep in touch with their pets when they are not home, such as the Dogness Smart Camera Treater 8065, which allows you to monitor and connect with your pets through a video camera and two-way chat. You can even toss them a treat with the click of a button,” says Colin Jones, category expert at Appliances Online.

And if you need to remove that telltale ‘doggy smell’ from a room, you could invest in an air purifier, such as such as the Mitsubishi Electric MA-E85R-A Air Purifier, to refresh your home.

It’s important to make all your ideas known to your builder at the start of the design stage, that way nothing will get missed. Our homes are custom designed to suit each clients needs. At Hurst Homes we pride ourselves on providing no hidden extras, and full turn-key homes for our clients. That’s why shower niches and custom joinery comes standard in all of our builds. Just another reason why we are considered Wagga’s Best Builder. If you’re interested in building in the Wagga area contact us today on 0438 692 962 for a preliminary estimate on your dream home.

For more great tips and tricks from the Houzz experts, visit Houzz.com.au